Contact for toy-electric-railway-car lighting



sept. z2, 1925n 1,551,730

` H. C,. .IVES

CONTACT FOR 4TY ELECTRIC RAILWAY I JG'IHTI'NG iiedM-g e.' 1924 L .Y L ,Yv Y Y f INVENToR.

- l Hr/y Jz/es Patented Sept. 22, 1392.5.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HARRY C. IVES, 0F BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE I'VESMANUFAC- TURING CORPORATION, OF BRIDGEPORT, CON TECTICUT, A CORPORATION0F CON- NECTICUT.

CO'NTACT FOR TOY-ELECTRIC-RAILWAY-CAR LIGHTING.

Application led August 6, 1924. Serial No.. 730,521.

.To all whom 'may concern:

Be it known that HARRY C. IVES, ay citizen of the United States, andresident yof Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield and State ofConnecticut, has invented certain new and useful Improvements inContacts for Toy-Electric-Railway-Car Lighting, of which the followingis a specification.v

The present invention relates to improvements in contact means forelectric toy railways, and particularly in roller contact means employedtherein upon the rolling stock, as locomotives and cars, for gatheringone side of the current from the central or third power rail of thetrack system.

An object of the invention is to provide such roller contact meansyieldably mounted in such a manner as to insure constant and positivecontact with the power rail. A further object is to provide such meansmounted on one of the pivoted trucks of the car, and having a lead wireso disposed as to permit of the free pivotal movement of the truck.

Another object is to provide a contact device of simple and durableconstruction, and which may be assembled with great facility.

With the above and other objects in view, embodiments of the inventonare shown in the accompanying drawings, and these embodiments will behereinafter more fully described with reference thereto, and theinvention will be finally pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of an electric toy railway car, embodying theinvention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of one of the trucks ofthe car, provided with contact means, according to one embodiment of theinvention;

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view thereof;

Fig. 4 is an end-view of one ofthe car trucks, provided with contactmeans, according to a modified form of the invention;

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view thereof, taken along the line 5-5 ofFig. 4.

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout theseveral figures of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to Fig. 1 thereof, theoar 10 is of the usual type constructed of sheet metal,

n and has electric incandescent lamp 11 secured upon the under side ofthe roof, one side of the lamp being grounded.

The car is provided at each end with trucks 12 having wheels 13 mountedupon axles 14, secured at their ends in the sides of the trucks, andthetrucks being pivotally mounted for rotary movement about a centralvertical axis by means of a flanged eyelet 15 having a spacing washer 16interposed between the upper surface of the truck and the under sideofthe car. It will be understood that the ycar may be of any suitabletype, and that instead of a lamp other eltctica-lly operated means maybe prov1 e TheV contact means is only mounted on one truck, although itwill be understood that similar means may be provided on the othertruck, if desired. The contact means of the present embodiment consistsof a horizontally disposed libre supporting plate 17 secured upon theaxles 14 by means of tubular clips 18 bent about the intermediateportions of the axles, and provided with tongues 19 and 20 insertedthrough slots 21 in the plate and bent over upon the upper surfacethereof.

The contact roller 22 is rotatably supported in side ears 23 and 24 of avertically disposed member 25, bent at right angles at its upper andlower ends, as at 26 and 27, the lower end being secured by a rivet 28to thelaterally disposed end portion 29 of a curved spring member 30.The upper end of said spring member is provided with a hook portion 31which is engaged in a slot 32 of the plate 17 the vertical member 25being at the same time engaged in a slot 33 of the plate with the upperend portion 26 above the plate and acting as a stop to limit thedownward movement of the contact roller. It will be seen that thecontact roller bracket thus provided, and consisting of the curvedspring member and the vertically disposed member secured thereto, iseffectually supported by being hooked into the slots of the plate 17,the assembly being therefor very simple, and the attachment secure andreliable.

Under compression and expansion the vertical member 25 moves in the slot33 so that there is a constant and positive engagement of the contactroller with the power resistance in either direction of movement` of thetrainis minimized.

A covered lead wire 35 is soldered at one end to the end hook portion 31of the spring member and is carried through the central passage of thepivot eyelet 15 to the lamp 11. The truck is thus free to rotate aboutits pivotal mounting without any interference fromthe lead wire,'andwithout impairing the constant electrical connection.

In Figs. 4 and 5 there is illustrated a modied form of the invention, inwhich the supporting plate 17 is supported by means of a sheet metalsupport 36, apertured as at 37, and secured upon the upper side of theplate by lugs 38 bent about vthe sides of the plate and clamped upon theunderside thereof, the ends of the support being bent downwardly at theends of the plate, as at 39, and curled about the axles 14, as at 40.The construction and manner of attachment of the contact roller andbracket is the same as in the first form.

I have illustrated and described preferred and satisfactory embodimentsof the invention, but it will be obvious that changes may beInadetherein, within the spirit and scope thereof, as defined in theappended claims.

Having thus described 'my invention, what I claim and desire to secureby Letters Patent is:

l. In a toy electric railway, the combination with a rolling stock unithaving an electrically operated element, of a support rtatable about averticalaxis, a yieldable spring metal bracket fixedly mounted at oneend on Asaid support, a'contact roller carried by said bracket at itsother end, and a conductor extending from said fixed end ofthe cal axis.

2. In a toy electric railway, the combination with a rolling stock unithaving an electrically operated element, of a support having anaperture, a yieldable spring metal bracket mounted on said support, andincluding vertical guide means extending through said aperture, acontact roller vcarried by said bracket, and a conductor extending fromsaid bracket to said element.

3. Ina toy electric railway, the combination with a rolling stock unithaving an electrically operated element, of a support having anaperture, a bracketl including a curved .yieldable leaf spring portionand a guide portion extending through said aperture, a contact rollercarried by said bracket, and a conductor extending from said bracket tosaid element.

4. In a toy electric railway, the combination with a rolling stock unithaving an electrically operated element, of a support having two spacedapertures, a bracket including a curved yieldable leaf spring portionhaving a hook end engaged in one of said apertures to secure thebracket, and. a guide portion extending throu h the other aperture, acontact roller carriedv by said bracket, and a Aconductor extending fromsaid bracket to said element.

Signed at Bridgeport in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticutthis 4th day of August A. D., 1924.

HARRY c. IvEs.-

lbracket to said element through said verti-

